Dealing with catastrophic events involving airplanes has become much more challenging in recent years.
Certainly, the present crises regarding terrorist activities have broadened the scope of the disasters that can befall the airplane and it passengers.
Progress in the evolution of air travel has included the development of airplanes that are much larger than counterparts of former times in keeping with the requirement to carry hundreds of passengers. In particular, the access from ground level to the largest of these planes is a doorway near the cockpit that is 26 feet off the ground. In addition, there is also in service, smaller planes that still carry a substantial number of people where the door to the plane near the cockpit) is only a few feet off the ground. The problem of getting out of airplane where the doorway is only a few feet off the ground is different than when the doorway is 26 feet off the ground.
The problem of ventilating a disabled plane containing 250 passengers is more difficult than ventilating a plane with one-tenth that number.
The circumstances vary from one situation to another and are unanticipated by the rescuing personnel. One situation may be a passenger suffering from a heart attack who must be removed as quickly and gently as possible. Another situation could be where the plane has come under the control of a band of terrorists. Another situation might be a fire that has broken out in the cockpit.
Vehicles have been designed to deal with each of these various catastrophes. Ambulances have been designed to transport victims of heart attacks. Fire engines have been designed to fight fires. Military vehicles have been designed to support swat teams.
New advances in aircraft design have included the increase of size of the latest airliners where the doorways are up to 26 feet off the ground. The differing nature of all of these situations have left the protection of airplanes in a situation where none of the utility vehicles presently on the market can accommodate all of the events that can befall the modern airplane.
An important requirement for large utility trucks is to include sufficient power to drive both the truck and the added equipment required to deal with the catastrophe. Additional equipment can include pumps to pump water to fight fires. According to the present trend in the state of the art, utility trucks are provided with larger and larger engines whose size requires that the engine be located on the truck frame ABOVE axle level. In order to accommodate both the requirement to move the truck AND power the auxiliary equipment, a power transfer device is coupled to the motor that delivers part of the engine power to driving the truck and another part of its power to powering the auxiliary equipment when required. The large engine and transfer case on top of the frame occupies space on top of the frame that would otherwise be used for carrying additional auxiliary equipment.
The uncertain nature and disparity of events and the unusual power requirement of utility trucks of the present art suggests that there exists a profound need for a more versatile and less costly utility vehicle.